Westlands
| Westlands | |
|---|---|
Woodvale Grove, Westlands, Nairobi
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| Nickname(s): Westie | |
 Westlands
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| Coordinates: 01°16′12″S 36°48′36″E / 1.27000°S 36.81000°E | |
| Country |
 Kenya
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| County | Nairobi County |
| City | Nairobi |
| Elevation | 5,600 ft (1,700 m) |
Westlands is an affluent neighbourhood and administrative division in the city of Nairobi, the capital of and largest city in Kenya.
Located 3.1 kilometres (1.9 mi) by road northwest of the central business district of Nairobi, Westlands was a residential district during the colonial period which ended in 1963. During the 1990s and early 2000s, as land and office space became scarce and exorbitantly priced in the central business district, more businesses have relocated to Westlands and Upper Hill, where land and office space are more readily available and less expensive. Westlands was initially considered part of the Parklands area and straddled what is now Waiyaki Way, originally the Kenya-Uganda Railway. The area has been nicknamed Westie by the youth of Nairobi. It is nowadays typically inhabited by a significant number of the city's expat population.
In Westlands or near the boundaries of the neighbourhood, there are several landmarks, including the following:
Apart from being a commercial centre, Westlands is also one of the eight administrative divisions in Nairobi. The division consists of the following six subdivisions (locations):
Westlands is also an electoral constituency, the Westlands Constituency. It has the same borders with Westlands division.
. Kuza Biashara, a company that trains small business owners and youth is also found in Westlands constituency area.
Within the Westlands division lies the Deep Sea Settlement. This is a shanty town of approximately 7,000 inhabitants. In 2005 a private firm, with police support, began bulldozing homes, an act the Kenyan high court deemed illegal. The High Court view the 'law' that allowed the private firm land rights' as unfair, because the area harboured squatters for more than 12 years. Combined with this land-rights issue, poverty is rife and is exacerbated by the area's poor sanitation.
Google Kenya is headquartered in Westlands.
The Lycée Denis Diderot opened in Westlands as the École française à Nairobi in 1962. It moved to Kilimani in 1972.
Coordinates: 01°16′12″S 36°48′36″E / 1.27000°S 36.81000°E
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Wikipedia